News

Hotelier Xavier McAuliffe is planning to build a €60m retirement village in the grounds of his Lyrath Estate Hotel in Co Kilkenny.

McAuliffe and a small group of investors last year paid €25m to buy back the historic 170-acre estate that he developed into a luxury hotel more than a decade ago. The

estate was taken over by Bank of Scotland-appointed receivers in 2012.

"It's good to be back. I was on sabbatical for four years," Mr McAuliffe told the 'Sunday Indepentent'.

A €5m refurbishment programme sat Lyrath s almost complete and he is now in the early stages of developing the retirement village,.

"The plan would be to develop a village of 150 two- and three-bedroom homes that would sell for about €300,000 to appeal to retired people living in large, empty homes in affluent suburbs of Dublin," he said.

Joe Dolan, President, Irish Hotels Federationhas welcomed the confirmation today that there will be no “hard border” with Northern Ireland and the Common Travel Area will be

retained following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU. 'This is a major boost for tourism across the island of Ireland and especially for the border counties, which are heavily reliant on visitors from Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Today’s announcement gives some certainty to issues that would directly impact tourism and threatened the continued development of this sector, which supports an estimated 230,000 jobs in Ireland, equivalent to 11% of total employment', he said.

A specially commissioned 360 degree video showcasing the beauty of Skellig Michael has been launched by Fáilte Ireland. The video takes the viewer on a visually spectacular journey from the Kerry coastline, through the Wild Atlantic, to landfall before travelling to the summit of Skellig Michael. The video has been produced to celebrate the up-coming release of the latest Star War’s movie, 'The Last Jedi' and to showcase the wonder of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Several dramatic coastal locations right along the length of the Wild Atlantic Way were filmed and will likely be spliced together in the film’s final cut.

An Bord Pleanála has given permission for a new €40m luxury hotel for Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green despite security fears being raised by staff at the adjoining offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In April of this year,Dublin City Council approved the plan to convert Loreto Hall — the site of a former women’s hostel, at Number 77 St Stephen’s Green — into a luxury hotel.

Brown Table Solutions has now been granted final approval to convert the building into an 87-bedroom hotel. The new permission provides for the omission of a planned penthouse suite level and one floor of the planned hotel.

Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin Convention Bureau has confirmed €64m of new business has been won for Dublin so far in 2017 at its Christmas Breakfast Briefing to industry which

took place in the CityWest Hotel t. This revenue boost was a result of winning 150 new conferences for the city and county over the last number of months, which are set to deliver almost 45,000 international delegates to Dublin in events to take place over the period 2018 – 2021.